I mentioned earlier about Allah’s (subhaana wa ta ‘aala) beautiful Names Ghafoor and Ar-Raheem. Now I’ll mention another amazing gem that ustaadh shared with us about Allah’s beautiful Names …

Allah’s most beautiful Name ﺍﻟﺭﺣﻴﻢ(Ar-Raheem) means that He is Merciful. Alhamdulillah. Because of the ﻱ in the middle, it means that He is Merciful at all times or that He is forever Merciful.

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that Allah divided Mercy into one-hundred parts. He kept its ninety-nine parts with Him for the Day of Judgment (with which He shall be Merciful to His creation). He sent down one part sto earth, and because of that one single part, His creation is Merciful to one another. Even the mare lifting up her hoof away from her baby, lest she trample it, is considered in that one part of mercy. [See Bukhaari, 8/73/29 and Muslim 37/6630]. Imagine that – even the mercy of the Prophets would be considered in that one part; the mercy of all the mothers for their children since the beginning of time!

The Name ﺍﻟﻐﻔﻮﺭ(Al-ghafoor), however, does not mean that He is always/forever forgiving. If that were so, then there would be no hell. Because of the ﻮ Allah is exceedingly forgiving. Allah forgives beyond what any of us could expect.

Allah is also ﺍﻟﻐﻔﺎﺭ which means that He is repeatedly forgiving.

SubhaanAllah, such subtleties in the difference of meaning with the change of just one letter!